I sometimes write notes on little bits of paper, stick 'em in my pocket and put 'em in the wash. If I'm using my z at a meeting I'm almost certainly doing something else, unrelated to the meeting, or checking to see if my kismet config is working right

I admit..once in a while I'll write down meeting related info in scite. I think I have used a pim app once in the real world.

for a pim app to really blow my socks of it would need voice data entry, voice acitvation and multiple alarms... maybe even dial my cell

I don't expect any of that anytime soon. Fortunately I'm not a serious pim end-user.

Well I use kde pim pi suite everyday and it does organize my life to the point my wife calls it my brain. What can make the pim apps better? More options (flexible) and functionality because everybody has their own styles of organizing things. Once all the settings are in place, the UI should be quick to enter and retrieve items. For any pim suite to be effective, you have to commit to using it constantly. I think on the back side, the mention of a database instead of loading all contents into ram at once sounds better.

QUOTE(Antikx @ Jan 30 2006, 01:15 AM)

Thanks for the honesty everyone. I would like to help develop better PIM applications one day and I am interested in hearing what people feel they need in PIM software functionality and features.

Well I use kde pim pi suite everyday and it does organize my life to the point my wife calls it my brain. What can make the pim apps better? More options (flexible) and functionality because everybody has their own styles of organizing things. Once all the settings are in place, the UI should be quick to enter and retrieve items. For any pim suite to be effective, you have to commit to using it constantly. I think on the back side, the mention of a database instead of loading all contents into ram at once sounds better.

Same here. I am a heavy user of KDEPIM/PI. And it really helps me a lot.In meetings I always take notes, either in to KO/PI journals, or, if it's more than just a few keywords and sentences, I use StageOne.Of course it needs discipline, the same amount or even more than without using PIM software. But once you get used to it and are consequent in using it, it can help you so much.I always carry a pen and a small sheet of paper with me as a "backup", in case the Zaurus fails, has to be rebooted or if the information is just coming too fast in order for me to kepp up with the software. Then I later transfer the paper sheet contents into the Zaurus.But I try to always only use the Zaurus.

Additionally, I try to concentrate on very few programs to use for the important stuff. That way, it will be easier to search for and find relevant information for any topic I may be interested in later.

KEDPIM/PI has great searching features and if I have to use an external program for additional information recording, I always put a note or hint into the KO/PI journal where to look for additional information.

In order to be fast with KO/PI in meetings I often overclock the machine to 614MHz. That really speeds up display refreshs etc. of KO/PI.

I have to say I think that asking this question on a Zaurus site will sort of skew the answers. If you ask most people what they use a Zaurus for, the absolute last thing they'll quote is PIM apps. If you ask people what they use a Palm or Pocket PC for, they'll be skewed more towards PIM apps than anything. Zaurus users tend to be Linux people first, attracted towards the Z because it is a Linux device that they can futz around with. Linux folks, for the most part, seem to be that class of society that likes to tinker with stuff, and it doesn't matter so much if it works right off the bat. They'll work with it/work around it. A co-worker of mine owns an SL-5500, and he considers it a toy, not something for serious work.

I personally abandoned the Z because it WASN'T useful as a PIM device. I would be in a world of hurt without good PIM apps. Kernel-hacking isn't even a desire for me, much less a need. On the other hand, I take notes on my Palm, organize my life with it, track my finances. And yes, management does notice. So much so, that my boss went out and got a Pocket PC.

From a PIM I expect more interaction with the P (me as personal). Nowaday PIM events are only based on timed events. They should be based on more external events like GPS position (Your reaching facility XY: You wanted to check out this and that) or when writing mails (Your writing to Tom: you wanted to tell him about ...) or as "smartphone" same for calling Tom....So the system should be more interactive with the environment. I already spent some thought on a OS and application independent layer for such kind of evnt triggering. But I have no time to go deeper into it. Will keep in mind and see in the future.

I heavily use KO/PI to manage meetings, to do's during the week. I used to have a Clie T610 until it broke over a year ago.

KO/Pi is really rich in functionality, much more so than the Palm apps. To me it's an upside and a downside. The upside is whatever you want is probably in there somewhere. The downside is that it takes a while to organize things the way you'd want to (hide buttons and views you don't need) and it takes a bit too many clicks with the stylus to do things like set a date or choose a category.

I don't use PIMs on my Z and wouldn't use them on any PDA, it seems too cumbersome. I keep my appointments on a web based calendar, so it's there on a tab on my browser all the time and I can access it from anywhere. I am not too keen on to do lists. Occasionally, if I have many things to do, I'll write one on a piece of paper. I don't call people and don't have a cell phone. If I did, I imagine I'd have my phone numbers on the phone. I communicate by email and my "address book" is my .mailrc file and the interface (when needed) is grep :-)

Thanks for the honesty everyone. I would like to help develop better PIM applications one day and I am interested in hearing what people feel they need in PIM software functionality and features.

My ideal PIM is a true information manager that will allow me to pull together information of various types and from various sources and link it to my calendar entries or todos. Here are a few things my ideal PIM would do:

1) Able to link todos or address entries to calendar entries as an attachment or as an active link that can be launched.2) Able to link other media to calendar entries or todos: notes, pics, spreadsheets, diagrams, voice recordings, etc. Again, I would like the option of this being an attachment or an icon that is a link to the actual file to eliminate having multiple copies.

Scenario: I schedule a staff meeting and link to the contact information for each attendee. I create a todo list of what I want to accomplish in the meeting and link it to the calendar entry. Once the meeting starts, I use my voice recorder to record the dialog which I will link to that calendar entry. During the meeting I create a hand-drawn diagram that I link to that meeting as well.

In the end, when I go back to the meeting entry I am able to follow the link to "all" the information relevant to that meeting. If they are all links and not attachments, then I don't have duplicates and I can view/listen/etc to each separately without going through the PIM. Also, it becomes a living document if I choose, meaning if I modify the original I will access the latest information every time I follow the link (if that is what I want).

So, greater integration to all other forms of information and facilitating (easily) the sharing of that information between PIM functions or applications is the main improvement I would like to see.

Thanks for your post gr8tful.I share your ideas. Good integration is missing in most PIM apps. I think modern life styles have outgrown what PIM's have traditionally been. I think we're stuck in a rut that leads back to the orig Palm Pilot. Don't get me wrong, I love the KDE PIM suite. It's the best of the breed, but it's the same old breed.